At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

We are like a woman with a difficult pregnancy. We have to rebuild the social classes in Egypt, and we must change the way things were.

As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy under Mr Mubarak.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.

History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.

Events at home, at work, in the street - these are the bases for a story.

I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.

I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.